Altered
by TheLateNightStoryteller
Summary: When something goes wrong on a mission Simmons is transported far from home and, though she is only gone for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, she is not the same when she returns. Set after Loch Ness Monster but can certainly be read alone :).
1. Chapter 1

Jemma was trapped in small, square room, in some sort of underground facility. She and Leo had been loading up the 084, an object of unknown origin, which their sensors had led them to, when their coms had gone dead, crackling static into their ears, and Leo had stepped out to see if it was the room blocking the signal. The second he'd left, the door had clicked shut behind him and neither of them had been able to open it again.

A timer fixed to the wall had began counting down from 70 seconds and both of them had witnessed first-hand what happened when it reached zero.

"Where is it sending me?" she asked, tugging at the handle of the door, it wouldn't budge.

"Damn it," he growled, furious, pounding the touch screen with his fingers as he frantically sorted through the information displayed before him. "I don't know, not earth." A chill ran down her spine and she fought back terrified tears. Most of not earth was space, cold, empty, oxygen-less space. "It's going to bring you back," he told her, attention on the controls. "You'll only be there for two minutes and seventeen seconds but-"

"That's too long," she finished. Her stomach lurched and her limbs turned to stone. She couldn't breathe, it was as if something were wrapping around her, squeezing her chest, stopping it from expanding, but she struggled against it, forcing herself to take in air while she still could.

He didn't say anything, didn't look at her, he was busy tapping away at the screen.

"There must be a way," he muttered desperately. "Bloody firewalls, where the hell is Skye!?" He shouted.

"Leo," she squeaked.

The timer clicked down, thirty seconds left. In thirty seconds she'd be warped into an icy vacuum to die, all alone, freezing and gasping for air. Her blood would boil because there would be no air pressure and her organs would expand. It would likely be over in less than a minute.

Twenty five seconds. Time was running out and she needed him to face her before it did. She needed to say goodbye.

"I can't... I don't understand," he mumbled miserably, still tapping the screen. It was as if he hadn't heard her. "There has to be an off switch, a way to abort. How can there be no off switch!?" He cried.

Twenty seconds. This was not how she was going to die, not alone, not with him ignoring her.

"LEO!" She screamed, smashing her fists against the glass.

His head snapped up, instinctively, reacting to her fear the same way mouse trap reacted to weight.

"Please," she whimpered, both palms pushing into the glass, longing to fall through.

Fifteen seconds. He was staring at her, into her, and she almost regretted calling his name because his tortured expression was painful to look at. It stabbed a thousand tiny needles into her heart, burning like the stingers of a thousand wasps.

Then, suddenly, it changed. His eyes narrowed and she knew he was processing something, that an idea was forming. It was too late though, they were out of time. She took a breath, preparing her goodbye but he spoke first.

"Jemma put the bands on," he demanded intently.

She frowned, not understanding. The bands? The 084? What good would it do?

"Put the bands on!" he insisted loudly and she rushed to comply. They slid easily over her hand but then, on their own, as if they were a living thing, they constricted themselves around her wrists, so tight they would be impossible to pull off. The cold metal felt as if it were fusing with her flesh and it scared her, but she trusted him and didn't panic.

Five seconds.

"It'll be OK," he told her, forcing a smile and she smiled back, allowing her silent expression to speak for her, knowing he could feel the love which glowed between them in a never ending arch of electricity. "Don't be afraid, you'll be back soon," he promised.

She had no idea what he was talking about but she was grateful for his smile and the dazzling hope that had begun to shimmer just behind his eyes. It was beautiful, he was beautiful and she allowed herself to believe him, for that hope to spread to her the way light spread across a field when a cloud moved out of the sunlight's path.

Zero.

A beam of blue light illuminated the room, so bright it was blinding, light's equivalent of darkness, and then she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

A bit of background: This story takes place over a year in the future where Fitz and Simmons are together and takes place after Loch Ness Monster but all you need to know is that, and that Skye has superpowers (telekinesis).

/-/-/

* * *

><p><strong>Half an Hour Earlier<br>****Classified Underground Location, Somewhere in the Himalayan Mountain Range**

Jemma, Leo and Skye were descending the ancient, crumbling steps of a narrow passage, hidden in the side of one of the many mountains of the Himalayas which stretched 2,400 kilometers, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.

"Do you think we'd ever be able to climb Mt. Everest?" Jemma wondered cheerfully, stepping carefully behind Leo, the beam of her torch lighting the backs of his feet in the darkness.

"No," Leo answered honestly and she frowned at his lack of enthusiasm.

"It would be an adventure," she pressed, attempting to sway him though she knew her chances were slim. "We'd have so much fun."

"Undergoing strenuous exercise in an atmosphere so thin you need an oxygen mask, risking an avalanche, possibly falling hundreds of feet to your death and freezing your fingers off," Leo listed pessimistically. "It doesn't really sound like fun to me Jemma. You can scratch it off the honeymoon list right now because there is no way I'm-

"I didn't mean climbing the whole way up," she protested, shaking her head impatiently at him, even though he couldn't see. She wasn't naive enough to think they were in any condition to reach the summit. "I'd be happy just to visit base camp."

"Oh," he answered, still not sounding overly thrilled with her plans. "I guess... maybe someday."

"I bet May's done it," Skye chuckled behind Jemma.

"Yeah," "Probably," they agreed. Nothing about the other agent would really surprise Jemma at this point. Their friend was practically unstopable.

"How much further down do we need to go?" Skye wondered and Jemma craned her neck to look over Leo's shoulder at the glowing screen of their tablet.

"Twenty-" she began.

"Two feet," he finished.

"Did you guys seriously need to share that sentence?" Skye teased. "It was like, four syllables."

"Someone keeps reading over my shoulder," Leo explained, more affectionate than irritated.

"Someone hogs the tablet," Jemma countered playfully.

"Someone is too busy sticking her adorable nose into icky, squishy dead things to hold it," he shot back, his tone surprisingly warm considering his aversion to said icky, squishy, dead things.

"Someone needs to start storing the actual names of decaying organic matter in that gorgeous head of his," she replied, stressing the last part and grinning widely at him from behind.

"Someone needs to get you two a room," Skye groaned, giggling at them. "Simmons, Fitz, please, your flirting is improving but it's still painful. What is with you and people's heads?" she incredulously asked Jemma who shrugged. "Just save it for the honeymoon. Or the wedding," she added, brightening. "Have you finished fighting over who gets me yet?" She laughed. "Am I a maid of honor or a best-woman? I need to know before I pick out my dress."

Jemma wasn't sure if she was joking about the dress or not but they hadn't decided yet. Aside from each other, Skye was the best friend of both of them and they were having troubles sorting out exactly who got to have her by their side. They weren't fighting about it, nothing so simple. No, they were having a debate, a written one over a series of emails, each clearly stating the key points of their argument.

"We can't talk about it outside our emails," Leo informed her.

They were nearly at the bottom, a large, round stone door etched with ancient-looking symbols, stood impressively before them.

"Seriously?" Skye questioned.

"It might affect the outcome of our debate," Jemma explained.

"Weirdos," Skye chuckled, her fondness for the pair of them clear despite the feeble insult.

She helped them slide open the door, it was heavy and it ground against the stone floor, friction working against them, but they were able to push it far enough aside to squeeze past it.

The place they entered was not at all what they had expected. A long, white hallway stretched away from them, and bright, artificial lights flickered on, illuminating it harshly so that the three of them needed to pause for a few seconds, blinking, while they waited for their eyes to adjust.

"I thought this place was suppose to be ancient," Skye commented, curiously looking over the wires which threaded between the long line of pipes near the ceiling.

"It is, at least the outside," Jemma answered, marveling at the mystery of it. How had all this ended up beneath a mountain? Who had built it? Why? "The writing up near where we came in was dated back five thousand years."

"It's been translated too, by the team of archeologists who found it," Leo added, frowning. "It doesn't make any sense though, it says 'a demon's twist rusts.'"

"Probably a miss-translation," Jemma dismissed. "They also told us that the word for twist in the language it's written in could also mean bracelet."

"And it's old, worn away," Leo agreed. "There might have be an inflection over the word for rust at some point, I think I saw an outline of it when we came in. Trip said that would make it mean 'not rust', or 'doesn't rust'." The other two raised their eyebrows questioningly at him. "The guy's a swiss army knife," Leo sighed, shaking his head, almost annoyed. "I'm pretty sure he can also transform into a fighter jet and preform emergency surgery on his own liver."

"Blindfolded," Jemma added and they giggled together. Leo was exaggerating, but their friend was certainly full of surprises.

"So it might also mean, 'a demon's bracelet doesn't rust'? Sounds ominous," Skye worried.

"No it doesn't," "It doesn't sound like anything," Leo and Jemma objected.

"You guys really need to learn to have an imagination," Skye told them. "Think outside the box, whoever built this did. I mean, hiding a super secret... whatever this place is... underneath a mountain and a creepy staircase, points for creativity."

"Why is it here though?" Jemma wondered.

"Let's find out," Leo said, motioning them forward.

Together they walked cautiously down the well lit hallway, footsteps echoing off the walls of the large, silent space.

"We're getting closer," Leo announced, staring down at his screen. "The pulse is coming from only about a hundred feet away."

Skye let out a startled yelp and the two of them spun around, alarmed, to find she had disappeared.

"Skye?" Jemma called, anxiously searching around for their teammate.

"Down here," she replied, muffled, and Leo and Jemma stepped forward to find she had fallen through a trap door into a smooth square about eight feet deep. It would have been easy for her to climb out, except that a glass panel had slid over the top, sealing her in.

"It wont budge," Leo grunted, attempting to pull it open like the door of a corner store refrigerator.

"Umm... I don't mean to rush you..." Skye said nervously. "Well no, I do. There's a timer, counting down. It says transport in 65, 64, 63- guys I only have a minute."

"What?" Leo exclaimed.

"Transport where?" Jemma demanded.

"It says 'entrance,'" she read. "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad," she commented optimistically. "It'll probably just bring me back to the top of that old, crumbly staircase right?"

"We need to get you out of there," Leo asserted worriedly.

There was a touch screen in one corner of the glass panel and he tapped it hastily.

"You speak English, correct?" Appeared across the screen.

"Yes, English," Jemma answered quickly. "Abort transport."

"Operation denied," it informed them. "Transport cannot be aborted."

"Open the door!" Leo ordered angrily.

"Operation denied," it repeated.

Leo swore and tapped irritably at the screen but neither of them understood the controls. There didn't appear to be any sort of off switch, all they could manage to do was change the language several times. Greek, French, Japanese, Yoruba, Arabic, all likely displaying the same message.

It switched back to English. Transport in 4, 3, 2, 1...

A blue light flashed, so bright Leo and Jemma had to squeeze their eyes shut to stop it from hurting them, and Skye was gone.

The pit hadn't moved, it wasn't an elevator or a cart, it was just empty.

"No," Jemma breathed concern fluttering in her chest like a flock of moths.

"Where did she go?" Leo gasped.

"Hello?" Skye's voice sounded in their ears over the coms.

"Where are you?" "Thank God you're alright," They exclaimed, relieved.

"I'm back at the entrance," Skye told them. "Go figure, it actually brought me where it said it would. That was weird, and strangely... tingly..."

"Can you come back?" Leo asked.

"On my way," she promised.

"We'll go on ahead," Jemma told her. "We're almost at the 084."

"I thought I was the 084," Skye kidded.

"You're our favorite 084," Jemma chuckled.

"I'd better be, don't get too friendly with this new one," she warned playfully. "And be careful OK?" She added, turning serious.

"Don't be jealous Skye," Leo teased before he mirrored her tone. "We'll be careful," he vowed.

They followed the pulse into a small, square room. A table in the center held a pair of thick, flat, gold colored bracelets. The rest of the room was empty, the walls white and smooth except for a rectangular screen near the ceiling.

"That's it," Leo announced, hovering the scanner over the bracelets. "They're sending out incredibly large bursts of energy."

"Is it safe?" Jemma asked, peering curiously at them.

"There's no harmful radiation," he told her.

she shuffled over to look at the screen with him. "What are they?" She wondered.

He grinned at her. "Let's find out."

They began loading them into the carrier they'd brought, careful to add padding around them so they wouldn't be damaged on the return trip.

"We'll need to come back here after to explore," Jemma decided, gazing around. "What a strange mystery this place is."

Leo smiled fondly at her. "Maybe that could be our honeymoon," he chuckled.

She laughed with him. "What do you think Skye?"

Static.

"Skye?" Leo called, frowning. "I can't reach her."

"Maybe it's the room," Jemma guessed, raising her eyebrows.

"I'll try outside," Leo told her, stepping into the hall.

The second he'd left, a thick glass door slid behind him and sealed Jemma into the room.

A timer clicked on on the screen. '70 seconds to transport, 69,68,67...'

/-/-/

* * *

><p>I usually leave a reference to the science fiction series Fringe in each chapter of each of my stories. In this chapter it is the phrase 'A demon's twist rusts' which is written on a blackboard in the episode Over There and is an anagram for 'Don't trust Sam Weiss' (a character in the show).<p>

There was actually no Fringe reference in the first chapter because it was so short but the 2 minutes and 17 seconds was a reference to the novel Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer.


	3. Chapter 3

The waiting was painful. Hands on the glass of the door, Leo watched the clock count up to 2 minutes, 17 seconds.

'She'll be OK,' he told himself but the knot in his stomach remained and his chest hurt.

The bands were going to save her, he was sure. Jemma knew what they were, they'd read the data on them together, though it had been a long time ago. They were Nega Bands, a rare, powerful artifact classified as an omega level weapon by SHIELD. It was against international laws to use them, technically, she could be taken into custody for putting them on but Leo was sure that, in this specific case, an exception could be made.

She could remove them the instant she returned, because she was going to be back in less than a minute and she was going to be fine.

There was another bright flash of blue light, forcing his eyes shut however much he wanted to keep them open, and when he could see again Jemma was laying in the center of the room.

"Jemma?!" he cried. Why was she lying down? She shouldn't have been hurt, not with the bands on... unless he'd been wrong about what they were. The earth stood still, he was sure it had stopped spinning, threatening that night would never turn to day again.

She didn't stir when the door hissed open and he rushed to lift her off the floor, cradling her against him while he checked for her pulse. The movement rocked her head to the side and her arms swayed as if she were a doll but her heart beat was steady and strong.

"Wake up sweetheart," he instructed, sounding as if his throat were filled with sand and stones. He swallowed and tried again, shaking her gently as he spoke. "Wake up."

Strange symbols appeared on her skin, glowing the same blue as the light which had taken her, and when her eyes opened to stare back at him they were black even where the whites should have been.

"Jemma?" he whispered uncertainly, searching them for any sign of recognition, a sign she knew who she was. This wasn't suppose to happen, the bands didn't do this.

She began speaking, words he didn't understand, a language neither of them knew, her voice strangely deepened. It didn't sound like her.

The words turned to English, letters and numbers.

" alpha echo 3 5 8," she finished and the timer beeped three times.

'Sequence accepted,' appeared on the screen.

Then Jemma fell silent and, slowly, the black in her eyes drained into her pupils, as if it were a thick liquid falling into a drain. When it finished and they were her own again, she began screaming.

"It's OK," he soothed, touching her face gently, alarmed. "It's OK, you're safe."

She stopped, shaking her head, tears falling down her cheeks before she pressed her face into him and grabbed his shirt, fingers twisting the fabric into bunches.

"No," she whimpered. "No, no, no."

"What happened?" he asked softly, patting her hair, trying to calm her. "Where did you go?"

"No," she sobbed, voice muffled. "I won't, stop. Stop it."

He dropped his hand to her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "You don't need to do anything, just relax. It's over."

Her head turned so that she was looking up at him, she was so scared, white as a sheet and trembling, clumps of his shirt still squeezed in her tightly clenched fits, as if she thought something would tear her away the moment she let go.

"Help me," she begged, squeaking as she spoke, symbols glowing brightly. It tore at his heart to see her so small and defenseless. He didn't know what to do and that terrified him. "Don't let me-"

Her yes shut and she screamed again as the writing ran across her skin, never ending trains of letters rushing towards her body.

"Help!" Leo yelled, frantically trying the coms again. "Skye! Anyone!" Tears streaked onto his face, he felt so useless, he didn't know what to do, had no idea what was wrong with her. "Shh," he whispered, gently stoking her cheek. "I'm here, I wont let anything happen to you, I promise."

The screaming stopped and her sad, desperate gaze returned to his face as she whispered something to him. She was so quiet, it was as if she were straining to speak, fighting against herself.

"No," he answered, horrified.

"Don't let me," she pleaded before the glow faded and the symbols slowly disappeared, thinning until they were gone. Her eyes shut and her face relaxed into the one she took when sleeping, peaceful.

"Simmons?" Skye called, panting as skidded into the room. "What happened?" She gasped.

Leo looked from her to Jemma and back again, at a loss.

"She was transported too," he told her weakly. "She came back but... I don't know where she was, something happened."

Skye knelt in front of them, examining her friend anxiously.

"Is she OK?" she asked.

"I don't-" he choked.

"Leo?" Jemma mumbled, waking up. "What happened?" She sat up quickly and Leo left his arm behind her for support. "Did it work... it must have worked or I'd be dead wouldn't I?" She reasoned shaking her head as if scolding herself for asking such a ridiculous question. "They're Nega Bands, aren't they?" She guessed.

"Yeah," he confirmed, watching her closely. It was as if nothing had happened, as she hadn't been a terrified screaming mess only a minute ago.

"I need to remove them," she exclaimed, attempting to pull one off. It wouldn't budge and she scrunched her face, wiggling the bracelet, trying to loosen it. "They're stuck," she fretted. "Oh, I'm going to be in so much trouble-"

"I'll be in trouble," Leo corrected, not wanting her to worry. She'd been through enough already even if she was acting as if she hadn't. "I told you to put them on, this is my fault. And besides, you would have been killed if you hadn't."

"It transported me to outer space," she answered Skye's unasked question, turning to her friend. "Don't look like that, I'm fine," she added when the other agent widened her eyes in shock. "The bands protected me. They're Kree-made, very rare. The wearer becomes invulnerable to the vacuum of space, doesn't need to eat or drink and obtains increased physical strength."

"And according to legend, they might also gain cosmic knowledge," Leo put in. He shook his head, frowning. "But-"

"That could mean anything," Jemma finished skeptically. "It probably means they aid in concentration or processing of information. They're an omega class weapon though and-"

"It's illegal to wear them," Leo explained. "But I'm sure they'll make an exception for this Jemma, you didn't have much of a choice. You could have been..." his voice broke and he looked away, remembering what she had said to him, what she'd asked him to do.

She placed her hand on the side of his face to turn it towards her. "It's over," she promised. "Everyone's alright."

He nodded slowly, debating whether or not to tell her what had happened. He knew he should but he was afraid, he didn't want her to remember.

"Where were you?" he asked instead, turning to Skye, unable to keep the accusation from his voice, fueled by his own guilt at his failure to protect Jemma. "We needed your help."

"I'm sorry," she said, touching Jemma's arm apologetically. "I couldn't get back, the-"

"Stone door was stuck shut," Jemma finished, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Yeah..." Skye told her, puzzled. "How did you..?"

"I don't know," Jemma admitted, taken aback.

"Maybe it's that cosmic knowledge kicking in," Skye mused, lightening now that she knew they weren't hurt. "Better not have any secrets Fitz," she teased but he couldn't smile along with her.

Something was happening to Jemma and it was his fault. He should have found a way to stop it, a way to get her out instead of telling her to put on a dangerous weapon they barely understood. Guilt squirmed in his stomach like worms burrowing through him. What had he done to her?

"What happened to me?" she inquired, reading his expression. She was frightened again, reacting to him because she trusted him, the same way she'd reacted to him telling her to put on the bands. He needed to tell her.

"When you came back you were terrified," he began. "You kept screaming. You said I needed to get the bands off and-" he stopped himself, not wanting to repeat the rest. He couldn't do what she'd asked of him and he feared that if he repeated it, it would be real, she'd be in danger.

"Did I say where I'd gone?" she wanted to know.

"No," he told her. "I asked, but you didn't tell me."

She stared at him and, for a moment, he didn't recognize her in her expression. Then she smiled and rose to her feet. "We should get back then," she decided. "Get these things off."

"Yeah," he agreed, disconcerted by their exchange.

"The others should be here soon," Skye filled them in. "I contacted them using the radio when the coms went down. Might as well leave for now, we have what we came for." She jerked her head in the direction of the bands which were wrapped stubbornly around Jemma's wrists.

"They're already waiting," Jemma announced matter-of-factly, walking ahead of them.

Leo and Skye glanced at each other, wondering how she could possibly know that, but soon discovered that, sure enough, she was right.

/-/-/

Jemma moved the spaghetti around her plate with her fork. She picked up one of the noodles, contemplating its long, wiggly shape carefully before placing it back into the pile.

"I'm not hungry," she shrugged, pushing it away. "I'm sorry Leo, I know you made it special for me but... I just... I don't want it."

"That's fine," he told, rubbing her arm and smiling encouragingly. "The bands make it so that you don't need to eat but you can... if you want to."

She smiled back at him, still Jemma, no trace of what he'd seen down in the secret facility. Another team of agents had been sent to investigate it however, when they arrived past the stone door, they'd found only an immense, empty cavern. Leo suspected the entire building had teleported itself elsewhere, much to his frustration.

"It's delicious," Trip told him from across the table, slurping up a noodle and licking his lips for added effect. Leo shot him a grateful grin, amused.

"Don't bother buttering me up, you can have the recipe," he teased. "I have two, one for me and one for Jemma."

"Which one is this?" Skye wondered, munching on her own.

"Jemma's," "Mine," he and Jemma replied.

"I'll take this one," Trip decided cheerfully.

"I'll have the other one then," Skye joked. "I bet the one for Fitz is made with chocolate sauce and gummy worms."

"Well that's just ridiculous," he said, shaking his head. "Why would I- well..." after thinking it over for a bit, it did sound good.

Skye and Trip chuckled at him and May and Coulson smiled together as they ate. Jemma took his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Please don't eat too much of that," she requested, laughing.

"I make no promises," he answered honestly and she nudged him lightly, unsuccessfully attempting to appear disapproving.

"So... you don't want food at all?" Skye asked Jemma, tilting her head curiously.

Jemma sat up. "It doesn't really... appeal to me..." she told her, glancing quickly at Leo. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm sure it's wonderful... I just don't... it doesn't look like food anymore."

"It's OK," he assured her. "No apologies necessary, you'll be happily eating again once we get those off." He eyed the bands.

The worms were squiggling around in his stomach again. She wasn't the one who should be apologizing, he'd told her to put on the bands because he wasn't clever enough to get the stupid door open, to turn off the machine. He'd failed her.

"No you didn't," murmured, touching shoulder. "You saved me."

He must have said something out loud, funny, he hadn't thought he had.

"He didn't what?" Coulson asked between fork-fulls.

Jemma looked, bewildered, from her leader to Leo. "But... sir... he just said..."

"He didn't say anything," May told them.

"Oh," she mumbled, staring at her hands. Leo saw them twitch before she swiftly stood up, pushing her chair back with a loud screech.

"I need to... I'm feeling a little tired," she lied awkwardly. "I think I'll go back to my room and... excuse me." Hastily, she left the table, her movements jerky and rigid.

"I thought the bands made it so she didn't need sleep," Trip commented while they watched her walk away.

"They do," Leo confirmed, eyes on Jemma. "I'm going to go make sure she's alright."

"We'll clean up," Skye offered.

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder.

/-/-/

He found her in her room, hugging her knees to he chest and staring, unfocused into nothing. She didn't acknowledge his presence until sat beside her and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. Then her body relaxed as she let out a shaky breath and rested her head against him.

"Something's wrong with me," she said softly, afraid.

"It's just the bands," he soothed, pushing her hair out of her face. "We'll get them off. I know we didn't have much luck today, even with the blow torch, but don't be too discouraged." He shuddered at the memory of the flames so close to her skin, but she couldn't burn. She couldn't be tired or thirsty and it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to hurt her. Leo almost thought it wouldn't be so awful for her stay that way, invulnerable, except that it was making her miserable for reasons neither of them understood.

"What did I tell you?" she asked dully, as if she didn't really want to know the answer but needed to.

"Just to take the bands off-" he began slowly.

"You're lying," she interrupted. She didn't seem upset about it though, she sounded almost detached.

"So were you," he whispered. "When you said you were tired. Why did you leave?"

"I was scared," she answered.

"Of what?" he asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," she said, moving away from him so their eyes met.

He shook his head.

"Leo," she scolded, disapprovingly. "We don't lie to each other."

"I'm not lying," he protested, averting his gaze.

"Or keep secrets," she pressed.

Leo fumbled miserably with button on his shirt. How was he suppose to tell her? It was insane and he wasn't doing it.

'Take off the bands,' he remembered her demanding, clutching his shirt as if they were in a hurricane. 'If you can't do that, if you can't stop me... kill me.'

"Why would I say that?" she gasped, lip trembling and he realized she'd heard his thoughts again. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"I don't know," he replied, reaching out to her. "I'd never do it though, I couldn't..."

Jemma squeaked as she leaned forward again, wrapping her arms around his body and he returned the embrace, holding her close to him.

"We'll fix this," he vowed. "I won't let anything hurt you."

"That's not what I'm afraid of," she whispered.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>The Fringe reference is the confirmation sequence Simmons speaks at the end of her other language talking. In the 'hidden' episode Unearthed, a teenage girl wakes from a coma shouting the sequence. It turns out to be an identification code for a man in the military named Andrew Rusk along with launch codes for nuclear missiles. It's supposed to start with 68339 but for we reason ff won't let me put it.<p>

Also Nega Bands are a Marvel thing (though, to me, they kinda sound like something from Dragon Ball Z). I found them on Marvelpedia. They are an Omega class weapon along with the Tesseract (the thing from the Avengers).


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next several days they attempted, in vain, to remove the bands. The metal seemed virtually indestructible. Jemma tested it and found traces of titanium, tin and copper as well as an unidentified mineral which they suspected played a role in their impossible strength.

Jemma herself was... different. There were times when she was still Jemma, same laugh, same smile, same boundless curiosity, but there were also times where she was, what Leo could only describe as, creepy. He still loved her to bits, he always would, but she was creepy.

The night was the worst. She didn't sleep, she couldn't, so she'd wander the Bus or, if they'd landed, wander outside (which Coulson and May had firmly discouraged because they needed know where everyone was in case a quick takeoff was necessary). Inside she'd write endless equations, pinning them to the walls of their rooms until they filled the spaces like numerized wallpaper. Once he woke up to her staring at him and not in the affectionate, innocent way she would normally, kissing his cheek before skipping away, but in an intense, detached way as if he were a particularly puzzling worm and she wasn't sunshine and smiles Jemma.

He had no idea what she did outside alone, but when they were together animals would flock to her, birds landed on her head and shoulders and she could tell him what they'd eaten and if they were hungry or tired. Once she told him a squirrel was going to die, stated it unemotionally the same way someone might tell you it was likely to rain or snow, and a minute later they'd watched as it was hit by a car.

The creepy episodes came and went in waves but they were becoming closer and closer together until she was more likely to be someone else than herself. It was scaring both of them, he could see, when she wasn't in the strange trance, that she was afraid of herself.

She was strong, incredibly so, and at first it had been fun. The team took turns, challenging her with increasingly heavy weights to lift. Skye even suggested she try to lift Lola but Coulson's response to that was as swift as it was predictable. She'd lifted the van instead.

Slowly though, as she began to realize how different she was becoming, Jemma had stopped thinking of her strength as fun or amusing, but as a liability. He'd needed to convince her not to tell the others what she'd said, worried that if word got out she might be detained, shipped away and locked in a box somewhere. None of their team would do that to her of course, but another member of SHIELD or some other organization might and he didn't want to risk the information spreading around.

That evening he found her in the sitting room, flipping rapidly through SHIELD data, a faraway look in her eyes. She didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Hey, did you want to take a break from...," he frowned. "Whatever you're doing."

She remained unresponsive, scrolling down so fast he wasn't sure how she was possibly reading the text.

"We can play Battleship," he offered, smiling encouragingly even though he knew he stood absolutely no chance of winning, not when she could read his mind. "Or Scrabble."

It was as if he weren't even there.

"Or... talk to birds... if that's what you like now..." he tried.

He might as well have been talking to a newspaper. At least he could read one of those, he had no idea what his partner was thinking.

"Jemma can you just..." he tugged at the tablet, "stop, for a minute. I'm worried about you."

She gripped it tighter, ignoring him and she was so strong it was like pulling on a statue.

"Hey," he called, trying to snap her out of it. "Jemma it's me," he reached to turn off the screen. "It's-"

Her gaze shot to him, cold and empty and in one swift, fluid movement she grabbed his shirt and set the tablet down on the sofa, holding him up by the bunched up fabric.

"Ow... Jemma stop," he cried, alarmed. She'd pinched at his skin and his collar was digging into him painfully. He pulled at her arm, careful not to hurt her even though he was panicking. She glared up at him, the dark ink seeping out of her pupils and faint symbols glowing on her face and for the first time in his life he was afraid of her. "Please-" he begged.

"-put me down," they said together. Jemma spoke unemotionally, a sharp contrast to his distress.

"What-" he began.

"What are you doing Jemma?" she said in that strange, deep voice, overlapping him. "Stop it," she said monotonously, before he could. "You're scaring me," she droned, even after he had fallen silent in shock.

"You're scaring me," he repeated his own thoughts after she'd spoken them. He placed his hands over hers, staring back pleadingly into the eyes which were no longer familiar. 'Come back,' he thought.

The ink retreated and the symbols faded. Her expression shifted to one of utter horror and she quickly lowered him to his feet, shaking her head as she backed away.

"Jemma," he soothed, reaching out to her, stepping forward. "It's OK, we're going to fix-"

"No," she gasped, staring down at her trembling hands.

"Hey," his hand hovered over he shoulder but she leapt back.

"Stay away from me," she shouted.

He flinched involuntarily, yanking his arm away and her eyes turned bright before she turned and charged out.

He raced after her but she reached her room and shut the door, locking it behind her before he could catch up.

"Jemma open the door," he requested gently, knocking twice.

"Go away," she shot back and he could tell she was crying.

"No," he objected.

"I don't want to hurt you," she squeaked.

"I'm not afraid of you," he insisted firmly. He had been, for moment, but she was in control and she wouldn't hurt him. He knew she wouldn't hurt him.

"You should be," she whispered.

He tried the code but she'd changed it and, even after several guesses, he couldn't figure it out. It wouldn't have been complicated to hack the keypad but that seemed too far a step outside her comfort zone, she didn't want him opening the door and he needed to respect that. Unless she was hurt or in danger, then he'd blow a hole in it if he had to.

That didn't, however, mean he was going away.

"I'm not leaving," he told her. "I'll stand out here until you open up... I mean... I know you have an advantage... not needing to eat and all but... you're going to get bored before I do," he joked, fishing for a chuckle or a smile. "I've always been the stubborn one, never know when to give up."

He could hear her breathing, struggling against herself, against her tears.

"I love you Jemma," he said softly. "I know that, whatever this is, you're stronger and I'm not going to let it take you." She hadn't lost yet, she was still in control, had stopped herself from hurting him. He rested his forehead against the door, wishing she would open it.

He heard her move towards him and he knew she was right behind the door.

"I love you too," she murmured. "But... I can't let you in."

"OK," he conceded, understanding her need to put a barrier between them, even if he didn't want her to. "I'll be here though." He slid down so that his back was against the door while he sat on the ground.

"OK," she replied, voice catching before tiny sobs escaped her. She was so close, just a few inches away but he couldn't reach out to her, couldn't take her hand. He wanted to hold her, kiss her face and tell her it was OK, but he couldn't so he cried silently with her, racking his brain for something he hadn't thought of, a way to get the damn bands off, knowing she was doing the same.

/-/-/

'Maybe if I cut off my hands,' Jemma thought desperately, aghast that she was even thinking of that. 'We could reattach them afterwards,' she reminded herself, not at all reassured.

Somehow she didn't think Leo would be any more thrilled with that plan than she was, but he hadn't exactly been thrilled with her lifting him into the air and acting like some demon from a horror film ready to do who knew what to him, either. She'd seen the way he looked at her, how he'd flinched away when she shouted, even if he seemed to be over it now.

He shouldn't have been, he should have been angry, scared, but instead he was sitting just outside her room, his back pressed against the door the same way hers was, as close to her, as close to a monster, as he could be, telling her he loved her.

She should move away, put distance between them in case she lost control again, but she was drawn to him, the way the north pole of a magnet drew to a south one, because she was afraid and he made her feel safe. It was selfish and weak and she had decided she needed to be stronger than that, had began to stand up, when he started singing.

"I see the moon, the moon sees me. Shining through the leaves of the old oak tree"

His voice pulled her back like an embrace and reminded her of comfort, the smell of a fire on a cold night, a blanket across her shoulders and the taste of freshly baked cookies. It was strong and steady, while being gentle and loving and it brought tears to her eyes again.

She turned her body so that she could press her palm against the door and lean her cheek on the side of it, listening.

"Oh let the light that shines on me, shine on the one I love."

Her eyes closed as she listened to the lullaby, soothed even if she couldn't fall asleep. By the time he'd finished, she'd relaxed and she felt enough herself to open the door.

He held out his arms, inviting but not pushing, and she stepped forward, wrapping her own around him and pulling him close.

"We'll fix this," he told her again, quietly because his mouth was so close to her ear.

"Yeah," she agreed, forcing herself to believe it. "We should tell the others what happened though."

He tensed. "OK..." 'What if they lock you up,' he thought.

"I probably should be locked up," she answered grimly.

"No," he objected.

"Yes," she insisted, pulling back so she could look him in the eyes. "I'm dangerous," she asserted. "I'm going to hurt them if we don't stop me."

He sniffed. "Hurt who?"

"Everyone," she replied, only knowing her answer once she'd spoken it. "Everyone..." she whispered, frightened all over again. What did that mean, everyone? Why couldn't she understand herself anymore?

'No, I'm not hurting anyone,' she resolved. 'Never.'

'You will,' someone contested simply, someone in her head, toying around with her mind.

/-/-/

"No," Leo protested angrily, crossing his arms glaring at his leader.

"They can help," Coulson insisted, unfazed by his teammate's temper. "They'll do some tests and-"

"And lock her up in a cage like some sort of criminal," he shot back, stepping in front of Jemma protectively. "Like you want to. We trusted you, came to you for help and-"

"I am helping," Coulson replied, patience thinning. "Everyone, Simmons included, will be safer with her in the holding room," he told him sternly.

"You mean she'll be safer in that cage until you take her to the new Sandbox and they put her in a smaller one with a bunch of people we don't even know," he objected loudly. "No, you can't, I won't let you. We can figure this out on our own."

"Don't I get a say?" Jemma put in testily.

He turned to her, surprised. "But... you don't want to go... do you?"

She took a breath. "They have surgeons there who can try... the thing with my hands." She bit down on her lip and averted her gaze but she managed to push down how scared she was. She was so brave, braver than him, he was freaking out.

"You said you didn't like that plan," her reminded her, alarmed.

"What choice do we have?" She countered unhappily. "They're my hands, this is my decision and I am not going to responsible for the deaths of countless people. I'm not."

"Jemma," he soothed, stepping forward to touch her arm.

She jerked away. "And I'm not going to let myself hurt you," she added resolutely. "Or any of our team." She turned to Coulson. "Put me in the holding room," she demanded.

He smiled sadly at her. "You're a great agent Simmons," he told her. "And a good friend, I promise that we're going to get those things off of you."

"I know you will sir," she replied, trusting him, but Leo remained prickly.

Of course Coulson would do his best, it wasn't his leader he was worried about. He was concerned about a group of strangers chaining her up -they'd better not have chains- caging her up and then **_cutting off her hands!_** They didn't know these people. Sure, they said they were SHIELD agents, but so had Hydra and look how that had ended.

He watched, helpless, as his brave love allowed herself to be led to the holding room and sealed inside.

Then he sat down, back against the door, not knowing what to say but needing to be beside her as they took off, soaring across the ocean.

/-/-/

Jemma sat silently, back against the door where she knew Leo was, feeling victorious.

Which was terrifying.

Something wanted to go to the Sandbox, something that wasn't her and she couldn't warn Leo or her team because it wasn't letting her speak. Horrible things were about to happen, she was a puppet in their creation, and she didn't know what they were or how to stop it.

"We'll be arriving in two hours," Coulson announced over the speakers.

A smile crept across her face but it wasn't her smile. Leo was wrong, she wasn't in control, not even a little.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>The Fringe reference is the song, it is the song Alternate Olivia sings to her son Henry before she goes off on her mission to save the universe, leaving him with Lincoln. However the way Simmons repeats what Fitz says and then escalates to talking before he can is what the Observers in Fringe do and what a monster in an episode of Doctor Who does. So I guess that's also a reference too.<p>

The creepy stuff Simmons does is inspired by Paranormal Activity and Fringe, as well as a little bit from Avatar the Last Airbender (birds land on Aangs head because he is the Avatar and also probably because he is a gentle soul, I mean, I couldn't see Kyoshi letting birds land on her and she was an Avatar too).

Also sunshine and smiles Jemma is based off sunshine and rainbows Arizona (Grey's Anatomy). I dunno if they actually call her that in the show or if it is a tumblr thing haha. (She isn't really sunshine and rainbows anymore).

Oh and also, the whole door scene was inspired by a scene from Being Human (the North American version) in which Sally is kinda a zombie and is locked in a room and Norah is all like "I wish you could come out." and she responds something along the lines of "Yeah, I miss you, but I also kinda want to eat you."

/-/-/


	5. Chapter 5

Jemma waited with her friends in a small, plain room, sitting on a high, wheeled bed and hugging her knees. Leo sat beside her, feet dangling off the side, his body turned towards her and their shoulders pressed together, silent, listening numbly to Skye who sat in a chair on her other side.

"This'll work right?" she was saying. "It's not going to grow into your skin or tighten too much... what if they can't get it off?... what if they...," she winced. "You know... and it's still stuck," she worried.

Leo felt sick, he hadn't thought of that.

"They can cut it all off if they have to," Jemma replied dryly and he felt a painful twinge where his heart was. "I can't do this anymore, I can't have these," she shook her wrists, "a part of me. I'm not me anymore with them..."

No, she wasn't, but if there were another way...

"There is no other way," she insisted, turning to him so the others would know she was answering his thoughts.

"You're being very brave," May praised quietly.

Jemma scoffed. "I'm doing this because I'm terrified."

"Others may have been more afraid for themselves," May commented.

Jemma gave her a half smile but Leo said nothing, not that he needed to. She was being brave and he was proud but he couldn't bring himself to give up on searching for another way and he didn't understand why she had decided to.

"I don't think I could explain it," she told him gently. "It's... dread... like when you feel a storm coming, you sense the drop in pressure, the change in the wind and you know... better get inside, better get under something quick. Only it isn't something so innocent as rain and lightning, I know it isn't and I don't have time to find another shelter, I need to take the one in front of me."

Leo sighed heavily, meeting her gaze. She seemed certain, resolved with what she was going to do."I trust your judgment, I'll go along with whatever you think is best," he promised, taking her hand in both of his. His eyes searched her face seriously. "But if you have any doubt, any at all, you don't have to do this. We can find another way-"

"We've been trying for days now and nothing's worked," Jemma reasoned, smiling reassuringly. "There are worse things than having your hands cut off, I don't know what's going to happen if we leave these things on but I know it's worse. A lot worse."

"OK,' he whispered, scared for her.

She touched his cheek and he turned his head to kiss her hand.

"Let's hope they can get them off and you can keep your hands," Trip put in from beside May.

"Yeah, forget what I said," Skye decided, waving her hand as if swatting it away. "You're going to be fine."

"Let's hope," she repeated quietly.

Leo rested the side of his head against hers, fighting down his panic, his need to stop this because it was insane. Jemma was right, this was her choice and he needed to trust her.

'We've tried almost everything possible on earth to remove it,' he conceded to himself. 'Unless... well there are other worlds out there. If we could only contact them-'

"We can't contact them though," Jemma objected.

"Fitz can you... maybe say some of these things out loud," Skye suggested. "It's kinda hard only hearing half the conversation."

"He thinks if we tried asking Asgard for help we could find another way to remove them," Jemma explained, shaking her head.

"We can't though," Coulson reminded him. "They come whenever they feel like we need them."

"I know that," he muttered irritably. He forced himself to calm down, however much he hated what was happening, however upset or guilty it made him.

"Can we have a moment?" Jemma requested.

"Of course," Coulson agreed. "Take as much time as you need."

The others cleared the room, leaving them alone. Skye paused beside Jemma, giving her arm a gentle squeeze before following them.

"Forget what I said," she repeated and Jemma nodded, though Leo could tell she hadn't really.

When they were all gone she let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes as her lip trembled and leaning into Leo, clutching at his shirt the way she had in the room down in the building under the mountain.

"I'm so scared," she breathed.

"It'll be OK," he promised, shielding her with his arms, wrapping her up and wishing he could protect her from what was inside of her. "You wont be alone, I'll be there when you wake up. We all will."

He felt her nod and kissed the top of her head.

"I know," she whispered. "I can feel it, what you're feeling. It's stronger with you, with the others I get glimpses, peeks into their minds, but I'm always inside your head."

"How is that any different from how things usually are?" He teased.

She chuckled softly and her grip on him loosened. "I didn't know how much you hated sliding glass doors. That's different."

"We have a complicated relationship," he smiled.

"I just thought the way you felt about them would more... transparent," she joked, fingers uncurling so that her palm pressed against his chest.

He laughed at that. "You know me, I'm full of surprises."

She laughed along quietly before they both the turned serious again.

"Leo," she murmured, sounding frightened again.

"What is it," he asked softly.

She tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him, scared but determined. "Don't let me do anything horrible."

/-/-/

Around half an hour later, Jemma sat waiting to be put to sleep. Something was wrong, nagging at the back of her mind like the bite of mosquito or a single strand of hair across her eye, but she couldn't remember what it was.

'I shouldn't be here,' she thought.

Why not? What was here? Why was this a bad idea?

'I need to leave.'

She was frightened, that was all. Afraid of what was about to happen.

They were ready, a hand moved the mask which would put her under towards her face, but before the plastic touched her skin she moved like a flash of lightning, swatting it away and leaping to her feet, not at all in control of her own body.

Someone cried out, picked up a phone to call for help, but she swiftly bolted over and struck the side of their head, knocking it against the wall so that they slid unconscious to the floor.

Everyone took a step away from her, eyes wide, unsure what to do and within a minute she had knocked out the rest of the team. She took a saw from the tray, holding it as she loomed over one of them.

'No,' she told it, struggling to regain control. She was sure that her eyes had turned black and the symbols glowed blue on her hands. 'You don't need to do this.'

'You'll only delay the inevitably,' it told her coldly.

'Well then delay it,' she answered. 'Please, they've done nothing to you.'

It tried to move her, to tell her body to bring the blade down but she fought with all she had against it and it relaxed, deciding to let her win this one, that it was wasting time on this.

'What are you going to do?' She demanded as it forced her to walk out of the room, down the hallway. 'Where are we going?'

It seemed irritated, she was irritated, with herself. It was all very confusing and she fought in vain for control.

'Stop it,' it scolded, turning a corner. 'Be good or I'll make you kill those friends of yours, we'll do the one who builds machines last... slowly..."

'You couldn't make me do that,' she protested hotly, pushing down her horror. 'You couldn't make me kill the doctor what makes you think you can make me hurt them?'

It's irritation turned to amusement. 'I think you'll be surprised by what I can make you do.'

/-/-/

Leo sat in the waiting room, an empty chair between him and Skye who stared ahead anxiously beside Trip and Coulson who mirrored her expression. May was unreadable.

The waiting was agonizing, he couldn't believe they had hours more of it to go through. Why couldn't they watch? Why couldn't he be in there with her, knowing exactly what was happening, as soon as it did?

He knew why, knew he'd be in the way, that he could do nothing to help, but that thought only made everything so much worse, made him feel so much more helpless.

"Anyone want coffee?" Trip offered softly, standing up.

"I'll have a cup," Skye agreed somberly. "Here, I'll come with you."

"Can you get me one?" Coulson requested quietly and Skye nodded to show she'd heard before trailing slowly behind Trip.

Leo watched numbly as, on the other side of the room, they poured three cups, white Styrofoam ones, wondering if he should tell them that the smell was making him want to throw up. It wasn't the coffee, he was sure any food would have invoked the same response, but he didn't have the energy to complain so he rubbed his face with his hands and swallowed hard, trying to rid himself of his nausea.

An alarm went off, loud, whining beeps that startled Skye into dropping the coffees, spilling dark liquid across the floor and caused Leo, May and Coulson to shoot to their feet.

"What's happening?" Coulson demanded, turning sharply to face the receptionist who shook his head, scanning the computer in front of him.

"There's... I don't... Oh God... did she kill them?" He exclaimed. "What the hell, how did she do that... where is she... crap..."

"Jemma..." Leo breathed.

He raced to the desk, half climbing, half leaping over it ungracefully, knocking over what was on top of it, so he could see the monitors.

"Where is she?" he barked, pushing himself in front of him and gazing quickly over the feeds. "Move."

Coulson was behind him, looking over his shoulder and the alarm continued to blare, pounding against the inside of his skull.

"Why wasn't she guarded," his leader wanted to know, yelling over it.

"I don't know, they were putting her under..." the receptionist answered nervously. "I just work at the desk... I'm not in charge..."

"Fitz where is she?" Coulson asked him.

"I can't see..." he began, desperately searching. "C'mon... where are you sweetheart?... There, she's up on the fourth floor." She'd knocked out the guards, though Leo was sure they were alive. She hadn't killed anyone yet, maybe she was still in there, fighting for control.

'Of course she's still in there,' he corrected himself. 'She is.'

"That's where they keep the weapons...," the receptionist informed them, clearly alarmed. "She can't get in though... only a few people know the pass code."

"Are they in the building?" Trip inquired.

"Yes..." he replied.

"She's going to get in," May predicted and sure enough, Jemma tapped the keys and the door clicked open.

"Can't you lock it remotely?" Skye exclaimed, sounding frustrated. "Fitz... can I try..."

He moved aside to allow her access to the computer but it was too late, Jemma had made it inside. A few seconds later she reappeared, something around the size of a loaf of bread in her arms.

"What is that?" May wondered.

"Where's backup?" Coulson demanded.

"In the elevator," the man told them.

"That elevator," Skye asked, pointing to the screen where Jemma was prying open the door, ready to let the object fall into the shaft.

"I have to stop her," Leo cried, beginning to move towards the door. "Where are the stairs?"

Trip took his arm, holding him back. "She'll kill you, you can't go alone."

'No she wont,' he thought. "Then come with me," he snapped. It wasn't fair to vent his anger on his friend but he couldn't stop himself. It was as if his rage and fear had set him on fire, the flames consuming any hope of self control.

"I'll come too," May announced. "Stay here and tell us what's happening." she told Coulson and Skye.

Coulson nodded but Skye was staring at the screen in horror, hand over her mouth.

"Guys... I think that thing is a..."

There was a loud bang and the ground shook. The scent of smoke filled the air, somewhere, something was burning.

Leo didn't wait to hear what had happened, didn't wait for Trip and May. He bolted ahead of them, finding the stair and tearing up them three at a time, hearing them racing behind him, calling his name.

/-/-/

She'd killed them, the people in the elevator. She'd heard them coming, chattering away inside their heads and now there was only silence.

The thing inside her was smug, she could feel it gloating, knowing it had won.

'Don't worry,' it told her. 'You're not the only one who is weak, all humans are. There was never a chance of you resisting me and soon you'll be gone anyways.'

Tears fell past her cheeks and she fought again, trying to push it out but it was like resisting a tornado, seemingly impossible.

She entered the room, sorting through the vast array of weapons, gleeful and terrified, searching for something, something that would seal the door. She knew what many of them were, had read the data, an impossible amount of information which had been crammed into her head at incredible speeds.

There it was, between packets of spores which caused skin to grow over every opening until you suffocated and canisters of gas which turned bones to jelly. A forcefield generator, puzzlingly classified as weapon.

'A creative mind could use it as such,' the thing told her. It was small, small enough to swallow, to be shoved down someone's throat... Jemma didn't really want to think about the rest.

She set it by the door, ready to seal them in. A red light beeped on the side, it was charging up.

Without warning, Leo burst into the room, the forcefield appearing behind him, hazy at first and then clear, invisible except for the hum.

'No,' she thought, heart clenching.

Trip and May were just behind him but too late to enter, their shouts muted, and she closed the door so she didn't have to see them, so they wouldn't need to watch.

'What are you going to do to him?' she demanded, receiving no reply.

"What did you do?" He asked, looking back at it, realizing he was trapped and alone. She took a step towards him and he raised his hand in front of him defensively. "I know you don't want to hurt me," he said softly, making eye contact. "Just like you didn't want to hurt those guards in the elevator." She took another step and he backed away, slowly. "I know you're in there, I know you can fight this."

Why did he have so much faith in her? He should run, find a weapon.

Before she knew what she was doing she'd sped towards him struck him with the side of her arm, hard enough to send him flying into one of the shelves which crashed down on top of him with a clang, pinning him under it.

She was battling against what was inside of her, taking strength she hadn't know she had and managing to freeze herself to the spot as Leo struggled to free himself.

Something snapped and she momentarily lost control. She took a weapon, a sword that looked almost Asgardian

He'd managed to squeeze out but he was hurt, clutching at his stomach and sitting on the ground, pushing himself away from her with his feet, glancing around wildly for something that would help him but she had him cornered.

"You can fight this," he insisted, looking up at her pleadingly. She drew back the sword, her entire body shaking with the effort of combating herself and he flinched, tears spilling out onto his face, before he took a breath and his mouth tugged up in a small smile. "It's OK," he soothed. "I know this isn't you."

He meant it, she could feel it as if the emotions were her own. Fear, sorrow, love, love outshining the other two, a bright beautiful light. Whatever happened, he wouldn't blame her.

'No,' she thought. 'It's not OK.' She felt her strength waning, exhausted but she couldn't give up.

'This is wasting time,' it growled.

'Go to hell," she shot back, enraged. 'You can't make me do this.'

It pushed against her forcefully and she broke, plunging the blade towards him, watching as he shut his eyes tightly, preparing himself.

She pierced his shoulder and he cried out as she shoved it through him, sick at the sensation of slicing through flesh, digging it into the wall. He was alive but he was pinned, feebly attempting to pull the sword out even though it was hopeless, he wasn't strong enough.

"Wh- what... are... you doing?" he asked weakly, as she moved away taking in the items on the shelves. It broke her heart how hard it was for him to speak.

'I don't know,' she answered in her head. 'I'm so sorry.'

She was crying, tears blurred her vision, her pain pouring out of her. It wanted her to stop but neither of them could stop it and she realized that, for a brief moment, it had lost control. It had wanted to kill Leo but it hadn't. It hadn't because she wouldn't let it and that... scared it.

'I'm not afraid of you,' it corrected indignantly. 'You're a worm, squirming beneath my feet.'

'They're my feet actually, and you should be,' she told it determinedly. 'Because I am never going to stop fighting you.'

It was silent as it made her remove a device, a machine a bit larger than a toaster, covered in buttons, unfamiliar letters, from the shelf. It could read the letters and it hastily clicked them, inputting information.

"Jemma..." Leo mumbled behind her, stabbing knives into her stomach. "Stop..."

Her hand shook as she pressed the button to activate the machine and the room was lit with blue light, blinding her for an instant. Then her vision cleared and she saw a figure, standing a few feet away.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>The Fringe reference is the weapons surrounding the forcefield generator. They are both from the series, the first one used in Ability and the second used in Concentrate and Ask Again.<p>

The sword probably is Asgardian.


	6. Chapter 6

The figure was tall, much taller than a human and its skin was a pale, milky blue. Red eyes stared curiously back at Jemma and she realized she was looking at a Frost Giant. Enemies to Asgard, the beings had once attempted to colonize her own planet, earth.

"Hello comrade," it greeted, in another language, one she only understood because the thing inside her head did. "I did not expect you to take such a tiny form, even for a human she is-"

"The band's make up for any weaknesses this pitiful creature has," it asserted, sounding almost defensive. Jemma realized it was ashamed. It was embarrassed by taking her form.

"Y-you're the... one who's... p-pathetic," Leo told it feebly attempting to sound menacing. "A-all... yo-you are.. is... bracelets," he gasped.

Jemma realized she must have spoken in English.

"Do you know who it is you're speaking to?" The Frost Giant asked him, her voice low and intimidating. "This is Jotunn, an ancient and powerful warrior. He stole the Nega bands from a Kree long ago, ripped out his spine where he stood."

"G-gross," Leo answered, frightened and weak but refusing to show it. Her poor brave darling, she wanted so badly to go to him, get him out of there.

"And then," the Frost Giant continued sharply, eyes narrowing further. "He was killed by Oden himself, wearing the bands, and his energy, his life force, clung to them. He can posses their wearer, take over with his superior will."

Leo scoffed at her. "And his.. b-big... head."

"Insolent worm," the thing that had once been Jotunn made Jemma growl. "We should begin, I've wasted enough time with these creatures."

"First, we should probably rid ourselves of the extra," the other one said, smiling cruelly and glancing towards Leo.

Jemma's body nodded but inside she was chaos, fear and fury, desperately trying to figure out what to do, how to stop this.

It... he... Jotunn...whatever the hell it was, was looking at Leo, it wanted her to see what it had made her do to him, his ashen skin and strained expression as he struggled once again to free himself, blood seeping through his torn shirt.

'I'm so sorry,' she thought, wishing he could hear her. 'I wont let it hurt you again, you or anyone else. I'll stop it somehow.'

'You can't,' it told her. 'Wouldn't it be so much easier for you to just accept that?'

'No,' she snapped back.

The Frost Giant gazed up and down the shelves, slowly taking in the contents as if window shopping, searching for a weapon in a room filled with weapons, and settled on a blaster gun. Jemma recognized the design, it was SHIELD's, large, bulky, deadly.

"Would you like to do it?" She offered, holding it out to Jemma.

Her hands began to move forward but she fought it, pinned them to her side with all her might.

"NO!" She objected. "Never." She was wearing down but she found a reservoir inside of her herself, strength pouring out from her love for Leo and her deep resolution to do no harm, to never allow it to force her to take a life again.

Each life was precious, a beautiful, unique pattern made from matter, shaped by other matter, ideas, experiences. The people in the elevator had been the only versions of themselves out there, the only copies, with a world and a future they deserved to live in.

And there was only one Leo, his light, like a shooting star, would streak across the sky only once and she planned on it brightening her world for the rest of her time in it. She wasn't going to let him die and she sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to kill him. So her hands were not going to move and this Jotunn was just going to have to deal with that.

Her stubbornness angered it, but it didn't let the full wave of its fury show to its companion.

"It may be easier if you do it," It said tesely, using her to speak but not sounding at all like her.

The alien frowned before raising the gun, pointing it at Leo. He was scared, Jemma could feel it, and weak and in pain but he glared back at her defiantly.

"You... w-wont.. get... away.." he tried to say and she wished he'd stop, save his breath, but he'd never been very good at that.

Of course he would be brave, defiant, even facing death. It hurt to see him suffer but she was proud of him. She wanted to help him, stand in front of him and protect him, she'd do anything to protect him.

'Please don't let her kill him,' she begged, struggling against its hold on her. 'I'll stop fighting... I'll-'

"Shut up," It told her out loud and its companion glanced at it, confused before it made her point to her head.

"She's.. still..." Leo smiled as he read what it was saying, almost smug. "S-stronger than... you." He gulped in shaky breaths between his words.

"She isn't," it told him hotly. "She is not stronger than me, I made her kill, I made her do this to you and she was helpless."

"Then... why am...I...," he was so quiet, his voice barely more than a whisper, but his eyes flared blue fire. "...alive?"

"You wont be much longer," it hissed. "You are insects, both of you, waiting to be crushed under my feet."

Leo glared, unflinching, as its ally aimed the gun, ready to fire, to kill him, but Jemma wasn't ever going to let that happen.

"They're MY FEET!" She cried, only realizing after the words had escaped that she'd said them out loud, that she had managed to move her legs and throw herself in front of the blast.

There was a searing, forceful blow to her stomach and for an instant everything burned and she heard Leo screeching her name in a low, strangled scream. Then everything faded into darkness and nothing.

/-/-/

Someone was crying and there was the sound of something metal being dragged across the floor.

Jemma's entire body hurt and she felt incredibly tired but she was alone. She was alone in her head and she couldn't feel anyone else around her. She couldn't feel...

Her eyes shot open and she saw Leo, pale and slumped over so that it seemed only the sword was holding him up, his head down, shoulders quaking as he cried softly. Dark blood was soaking his clothes around the sword, dripping onto the floor and splashing in a shallow puddle. She suspected he'd worsened the wound attempting to free himself again. He wasn't doing well at all but he was alive and so was she.

She twitched her fingers, then her feet, testing out her muscles which were once again completely under her control. She noticed her wrists were bare of the bracelets, she was free.

It was hard, however, to be too relieved, they were still in serious trouble and Leo was fading quickly.

His head snapped up as she extended her arm, likely glimpsing her movements, and a smile slowly widened across his face. He looked baffled but overjoyed as he laboriously lifted his hand to tap his index finger over his mouth.

'Be quiet.'

She smiled back and cautiously mimicked the motion. The alien must have thought she was dead. Good, at least they had the element of surprise. She wished she could ask Leo what had happened, how long she'd been out for, but they needed to remain silent.

"Finished sniveling?" The alien demanded harshly, likely looking over at him and he scowled at her. "You are about to bear witness to the end of days, count yourself lucky to have seen the center of it, that that foolish girl was so adamant on you living to see it."

Jemma didn't feel like it was right counting anyone lucky to witness something so horrific and by the look on Leo's face neither did he.

"Don't," he warned angrily. "C-call her..."

"I'll call her whatever I want. What did throwing herself in front of that blast really accomplish?" She sneered. "You're still going to die, I still win, I won the moment you sprung my trap. I knew someone would put those bands on... if given a proper push."

"Sh-she.. k-k...," he couldn't finish, his eyes were beginning to glaze over.

'Stop,' Jemma mouthed, concerned, he'd lost a lot of blood, he needed to rest, conserve energy.

"The blast dissipated Jotunn's energy," the Frost Giant finished grudgingly and Jemma realized he was fishing for information, trying to get the alien to tell her what he couldn't. "But I am still here, the teleportation device allowed me to enter this room and now we can begin terraforming your planet."

"O-over... k-kill," he panted.

"Exactly," she agreed, oblivious. "Project Overkill was stored here, I can start a nuclear war on your earth, create a nuclear winter my people will thrive in."

Leo and Jemma exchanged a horrified glance. She remembered project Overkill, it had been an earlier mission, one Leo had gone on with Ward. The device was able to remotely activate weapons, launch nuclear missiles. Fortunately he had disabled it before any damage had been done.

She'd known, when she'd been transported back to the room under the mountain, she'd know this was going to happen, that they'd end up here. Then she'd forgotten, had dark lines pasted over her memories, as if they were a redacted document, but the lines were gone now, she could see everything.

"You'll soon join your mate," the Frost Giant assured him, misreading his expression, seeing grief. "Are you one who believes you will see her again?"

He ignored her, Jemma could see he was concentrating on staying awake, finding a way out.

What were they going to do? If she didn't have the bands the alien probably did, and Frost Giants were physically stronger than even Asgardians to begin with, a direct attack was out of the question.

'Think,' she commanded herself. 'You're in a room full of weapons, there must be something you can use. What did you see when you came in?'

She'd seen plenty, understood what everything was from the information she'd obtained speeding through SHIELD's database. There was a grey box which had fallen to the ground with the shelf she'd... it... had thrown Leo into. If she opened it, she knew it would send out a pulse of high pitched sound, too high pitched for any human to hear, which would liquefy their brains. That wasn't really the best option though... it would kill them all. She wasn't ready to die and she wasn't going to sacrifice her life and Leo's if she didn't have to.

Either of the weapons that had surrounded the teleportation machine would work, the spores or the aerosol spray. If she could only get to them undetected...

She toggled her eyes, jerking them to the side so that she flicked back and forth between looking over her shoulder and looking at Leo. His expression remained the same but he blinked, very slowly, to show he understood. He knew she had a plan. She wished she could tell him she needed a distraction but what could he do anyway?

A metalic clang above them drew his gaze to the ceiling and Jemma forced herself to remain still.

"Hang on guys!" Skye called. Jemma heard her feet clap down loudly on the hard floor and guessed she'd just jumped down from the ventilation. Their team had come to rescue them. Jemma felt a rush of relief and affection, of course they had, they always did.

Gunshots fired and other claps told her the rest of their team had followed her in. They wouldn't be able to win, it was resistant to their bullets, bigger, faster, stronger than all of them. Jemma had her distraction though and in a flash she was on her feet, darting to the shelf that had once held the teleportation machine. She hurriedly decided on the spores, they were in an injection gun, she could target the Frost Giant without risking infecting anyone else.

The alien hadn't heard her, had been too focused on fighting off her team, and Jemma was able to sneak up behind her, press the gun against her neck and pull the trigger before she swatted her away with a blow to the stomach, her arm crashing into Jemma the same way hers had crashed into Leo, sending her flying backwards to collide painfully with the concrete wall. She hit her head and saw splotches of black as she collapsed onto her side, dizzy, the edges of her vision darkening.

"Jemma!" Leo cried, squirming against the sword.

She pushed herself up, feeling sick, and crawled over to him.

The Frost Giant was dying, thrashing about, its every opening covered in its milky-blue skin, unable to breath. It was horrible, she couldn't watch even if it were an enemy, so she turned to Leo instead.

His eyes were wide and bright, searching her worriedly before settling their gaze on the side of her head. She reached up to touch it and found it was wet and sticky, she was bleeding.

"I'm OK," she assured him, examining his shoulder before taking his face between her hands, lightly stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. "I'm so-"

He pressed the tips of his fingers against her mouth. "D-don't."

She smiled as he tickled her lips with his light touch and when his hand dropped she leaned forward to kiss him. "You can rest now sweetheart," she whispered. "It's over."

He smiled back warmly, shutting his eyes, and his head fell so that his chin touched the top of his chest.

The others joined her, Skye and Trip kneeling down beside her, asking how they could help, while May and Coulson stood ready. Together they freed him from the skewer holding him in place and carried him out, leaving the Frost Giant wearing the cursed bands behind them, a mess to clean up once they ensured that Leo was alright.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>Don't worry, this is not the last chapter. There is still stuff and fluff to wrap up with and stuff to explain.<p>

I got the idea to have Frost Giants trying to take over the world because I think Lady Sif mentioned that they had come here once. Most of the info on them is from Marvel Wiki. It says there that they like to terraform worlds they conquer.

I dunno if a nuclear winter would be a great solution for them because for one it isn't permanent but I figure they have other stuff they would do as well. And besides it has the added bonus for them of killing everyone.

The whole, energy residing in the bands was inspired by the Fringe episode Unearthed, where Andrew Rusk's energy remains on earth and attaches itself to a teenage girl.

The Fringe reference is the sound killing box, it is from the episode... The Box! haha.

Jemma's thoughts about life are inspired by Doctor Who and Orphan Black.


	7. Chapter 7

Leo lay in one of the the new Sandbox's infirmaries, watching Jemma's sad eyes watching him back as she slowly ran her hand over his hair, over and over in a soothing loop. Her other hand gripped his, holding it against her cheek.

"You should rest," he insisted, even though he was enjoying her gentle touch. "You were hurt too."

"Not like you were," she answered quietly, eyes bright.

"That wasn't your fault," he told her firmly.

She didn't answer, instead she leaned forward to lightly kiss the side of his face, and once she lifted her head again he saw a single tear streaking down her cheek.

He moved his hand, pulling hers with it, to wipe it away.

"You didn't do this," he pressed staring into the miserable eyes of his poor darling, wishing he could blow away the heavy storm clouds darkening them. "And you stopped worse from happening, you stopped it from killing millions of people."

"I still let it kill seven," she murmured. She shut her eyes tight, pushing warm tears out onto his hand and her face. "I.. k-killed them."

His heart broke for her and he hated the thing that had done this, that had used Jemma, sweet Jemma who'd never harm a soul, who valued human life and who was kind to everyone she met, to end the lives of those brave agents.

He struggled to move over, wanting her near him, to comfort her. "Come here," he invited, patting the space beside him.

"I'll hurt you," she sniffed.

"Nah, I'm fine," he assured her, smiling confidently. "I'm made of Adamantium, all engineers are, they fill you with it when you get accepted into the program."

She made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a hiccup and, very carefully, got in beside him, pressing her face into the side of his good shoulder. It did hurt a little when the mattress bounced but she was gentle and it passed quickly.

Jemma cried quietly against him and he took her hand, drawing circles on the top of it with his thumb as he kissed her hair and sang the lullaby to her again.

"You never gave up on me," she murmured once he'd finished, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Not once, you always thought I was going to beat it."

"And I was right wasn't I?" he reminded her, brightening. "You're too big a flame to ever be put out," he told her. "That stupid pair of bracelets didn't stand a chance. Though I'm glad you were wearing them when you were hit so they could protect you. It was the weak one in the end, imagine, being dissipated by a _blaster gun_, what a wimp," he kidded.

She let out a watery chuckle. "You really need to stop egging on the bad guys, you'll wind up making enemies-"

"I thought the bad guys already were our enemies," he teased.

"-or painting a target on yourself," she finished, amusement fading.

He scoffed. "I'm not scared of them."

She sighed, turning serious, releasing his hand to wrap her arm across him in an awkward hug, squeezing him lightly. "But I need you alive," she said softly. "You're my family, my home."

She was those things to him too, somewhere, somehow, things had shifted, they'd become the one the other was waiting for, the one who needed to return to them. A very long time ago, they'd decided that they were the ones each other came home to.

He couldn't lie to her, couldn't promise that he would always come back, and, though it terrified him, he knew she couldn't make that promise either.

"Well I'll just need to be extra careful then wont I?" he joked instead, pressing his cheek against the top of her head and smiling. "Look both ways before I cross the street."

"I hope you already do," she scolded, laughing.

/-/-/

A week later, the team was sitting in a retro-style restaurant, munching on burgers, fries and, in Triplett's case, grilled vegetables.

Leo winced as he sat down beside Jemma, his arm hugging his stomach for a moment, where his bones were still healing, before his smile returned.

"If this is too much-" she whispered beside him, concerned.

"I'm fine Jemma, stop worrying," he dismissed, shaking his head at her before giving her a quick peck. "Just relax and enjoy the evening. It's our party after all."

She smiled back but resolved to keep a close eye on him anyway, just in case. It had been only a week since she'd... since it... since... she didn't really like to think about it, about how much blood had gushed out of him when they'd removed the sword, about how pale he'd been, how still. His injury had been far more serious than she'd realized, he was lucky to be alive, and though he kept insisting she'd had nothing to do with it Jemma still blamed herself. They were her hands, it had been her body, and as unfair as it was she couldn't help feeling she should have taken back control of it sooner.

"Sweetheart, stop frowning," he whispered, nudging her lightly. "You're going to hurt Coulson's feelings, he'll think you don't like the place he reserved." The mischievous glint in his eye told Jemma he was joking but she stifled her frown because he wasn't wrong. This was their party and scowling through the entire thing would be incredibly rude. They were alive, they were happy and they were together. That was certainly something to celebrate.

The restaurant their leader had brought them to, to celebrate their engagement, was lovely. They drank milkshakes from glass measuring cups and received their meals in metal baskets. A jukebox beside the dance floor played an old love song Skye had picked out, saying it reminded her of them and as they reached the chorus Leo took Jemma's hand, a soft, sentimental expression on his face as he gazed lovingly at her, causing her cheeks to redden before she laughed and kissed him again.

Trip tried to steal another fry from Skye and she swatted his hand away, shaking her head but amused.

"You should have gotten your own," she scolded.

"I decided to go with the healthy option," he defended. "I only want a few."

"You've eaten half of them," she accused, bumping his shoulder, chuckling.

May rolled her eyes and pushed a few of her fries onto Skye's plate.

"There you go, now you can both eat your fill," she told them fondly.

Coulson snuck a few of his own fries onto her plate when he thought she wasn't looking, but the slight lift of the corners of her mouth and the sparkle in her eyes told Jemma that May had seen him do it.

She gently lay her head on the side of Leo's arm, watching their friends with a small smile, feeling Leo kiss the top of her head and sighing contentedly.

Jemma didn't really believe in luck, things happened by chance, or by hard work, or something in between the two, but she did think herself incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by so much love. She was fortunate to have her team to laugh with and to come to her rescue, always, and to have Leo who treated her as if she were the most precious thing in the universe, who made her so happy and who she loved from the inside out with all her heart.

It was all so fragile though, the life they lived meant she could lose any of them in the blink of an eye, the way she'd almost lost Leo up in that room filled with weapons. Every moment together was precious.

/-/-/

For all their worry, and even if neither neither of them believed in luck, Jemma and Leo were lucky and always found their way back to each other. They survived, together with their team, to see the horrors and the wonders of their universe, the ones hidden from everyone else but a select few.

As time went by and they grew older, some things changed, but some things didn't, probably never would. Skye was still their closest friend, Coulson was still their leader and May was too, though she wasn't officially. Trip and Leo never did agree on which superhero was better, Batman or Mantis, however the pair remained close with him for the rest of their lives.

And Jemma and Leo remained FitzSimmons, solving problems and seeing the world together, always together, in all its terrifying beauty.

Years later, Leo would tell their children stories of their adventures, leaving out the bad like the man who made people sick by touching them, the alien woman who could cause men to turn on their loved ones with only her voice and the monsters that had destroyed New York, and focusing instead on the spectacular. He'd sit them on his lap, bouncing them on his knees until they giggled and tickle their imaginations with tales of far off worlds and noble warriors who always fought for good, of tiny bits of matter that could make transport trucks fly into the air and people who could fly or hold fire in their hands, while Jemma tried to look disapproving but usually ended up joining in, wrapped up in her children's excitement as well as her own.

"We can't tell them these things," she scolded lightly, when they were asleep. "It's classified."

"Ah, C'mon Jemma, they think it's a fairy tale," he answered, kissing her cheek.

"They believe in fairy tales," she mumbled but she smiled, pressing herself against him, filling with joy at the feel of his laughter.

"After everything we've seen," he grinned, "I think I do too."

/-/-/

And they all lived amazingly ever after

The End

* * *

><p>You have reached the end :D of not just the story, but this series of stories. Thanks for coming along, if you just read this one, or read them all, you are awesome!<p>

Super special thanks to Notapepper who has helped me and reviewed every single chapter of this series. They are awesome (and write some great fanfiction)

The Fringe reference in this chapter is the man who made people sick by touching them. In Olivia in the Lab with the Revolver, a man who was experimented on with a drug called cortexiphan as a child is sick with cancer but can heal himself briefly by touching other people who have been experimented on with the drug (including Olivia!) and spreading his sickness to them.

Adamantium is the fictional, super strong alloy, Wolverine's claws and bones were replaced with.


End file.
